Alternator damaged during removal

[The_Epsicle]

I did a dumb a few months ago and I just found out about it. I'm in the beginning stages of removing the 4.0 engine on my 1994 Ranger and I had some unexpected trouble with the alternator. When I last attached the nut to hold on the power wire for the alternator (pictures below) the washer must have fallen off unbeknownst to me and since that point they rusted together slightly. The nut was coming off with some difficulty and I noticed I was actually turning the stud that the power wire attatches to. At this point I just cut the wire and figured I'd solder a new connector on later. After I finished tearing apart the engine bay for the day, I noticed the stud was a screw, and I unscrewed it quite a bit. I want to avoid buying a new alternator since this one is going strong so I have some questions.

1. Can I screw this stud back in? If so, what should I torque it too?

2. What gauge is the power wire for the alternator on a 4.0?

3. Does it really matter if I damaged the red thing? As far as I can tell it's just there to let you know there is a lot of power going through that wire.

The stud with the connector and nut attatched

A close up of just the stud, go figure the nut falls off after I cut the wire. you can also see the red thing I damaged when the wire started turning with the stud/nut.

 

[The_Epsicle]

Also, if anyone happens to know where I can get a hold of an oil dipstick, let me know. The junkyard is an hour away so I'd rather order one if that's possible and affordable.

 

[RonD]

The B+ stud shouldn't come out as far as I know, it is suppose to be part of the Rectifier unit inside the alternator.

Part #5 in the diagram in this thread: http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1312348-howto-change-the-rectifier-in-a-3g-alternator.html

And if you look at the pictures you will see how stud can be attached to the rectifier, so it is possible for it to "unscrew" but would probably indicate a problem inside the alternator.
Re-installing it might be OK, just snug, if there is a problem(internal short) then there would be a bit of a smoke show, when you hooked up the battery cable, so be ready to pull off the cable.


I couldn't find a stock dipstick for an older car, so I made one from a dipstick from another car.
I used a thicker wire to stick down the dipstick tube till it hit oil pan, so had max length needed.
Then found a dipstick that was almost that long, after next oil change I used that level to mark my levels on the new dipstick and cut it to short length and tapered the end

 

[The_Epsicle]

Thanks, RonD. I'll give it a shot at fixing it, but I can't complain if it's broken because the alternator is from 2004 and still going strong. This is turning into the project from hell for me, I just did another dumb and shattered the water pump housing, so I've got some junkyard trips in my future where I can hopefully grab a dipstick too.

EDIT: Nevermind, just figured out the water pump housing is part of the water pump. Still going to the JY though.

 

[The_Epsicle]

I'm posting this for anyone that might have this problem in the future. I put the alternator back on today. When I turned the B+ stud it snapped in half, looking inside the alternator there is tons of corrosion so it was dying anyway. Guess I'm buying a new alternator, as I should have done in the first place.